


Keep Tabs on Your Black Paladins

by meupclose



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics), Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Galra Keith (Voltron), Galra Tim (Batman), I am going to try to make this a lighter mood fic but you know how this goes, It will be Tim or Keith's pov depending on the chapter, Jason is the Blue Paladin and will eventually make an appearance but not right away, Shiro (Voltron) is Missing, There will be a lot of Hunk and Pidge dammit they need lots of love in fanfics, Tim is the Black Paladin in his universe, batman/voltron crossover au, klance aren't together in the beginning but Tim will be meddling on this, like a bunch of dorks, their ideas to fix this will be the plot hopefuly it will be funny, think of this as a multiverse 'body swap' though they have physically swapped black paladins, this will have elements of the new season in it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-28
Updated: 2018-08-27
Packaged: 2019-01-06 15:42:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12213852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meupclose/pseuds/meupclose
Summary: "Tim said, there is this planet where he is from that is nearby here that has actual space cats on it, and so-- I was wondering, since we had a big win today, if you would want to go with me to this planet, and sorta see if they are here as well?""Just us?" Keith stupidly asks, and Lance's eyes widen."I mean yeah, just you and me... hunting for cats that's all. Nothing more! I mean come on-- it will be fun right?" Lance jokes and seems to be holding his breath. Keith nods thinking one thing-- 'did he just ask me out?'//or in easy terms, Tim Drake is a Paladin of old in another AU and ends up in the Legendary Defenders Timeline in Shiro's place immediately following the fight with Zarkon. Keith takes charge in the hunt for finding Shiro and locating a way into another dimension. *The Klance will be nerdy and innocent, and Tim is a war hero and totally badass*//





	1. Where is Shiro and Who Are You?!

There was nothingness. Space had a way of forcing someone into their head, the void consuming like an endless dark bath where you were sinking further and further into. Eventually, there would be extinction to senses, sounds, and light as they were consumed to the precise point of emptiness. The only relief to such a place was when you knew you were somehow still alive. You were breathing. Your heartbeat thundered within your vessel. Such simple mechanics of biological existence was the only pull out of it.

Tim cracked open his eyes, gasping in pain when he tilted backward and felt the extent of the damage to his right temple. The black helmet had taken the brunt of the impact forward, but he had struck the console hard enough to dent the material. Blood dripped freely down the split, but it was a coming loud headache that worried him paired with the spinning vision.

"Black you okay?" he whispered immediately, the connection to the lion was distant even though he was cradled in her cockpit. He started pressing familiar buttons, trying to bring her back up and running but when the screen flickered into view Tim's hand grabbed his bayard in shock, stilling entirely while he watched the group of paladins attempt to get the black lion to open up for them.

They weren't his team nor his family.

"Black come on! Pretty Lion, you fought such a hard battle, why don't you open up for Lancey-- please--" the one who vocalized a strange hybrid of begging and sweet talking had slandered over to the front paw of the lion, rapping on its knuckles like it was the key to opening her mouth. He appeared stressed but carried with him a natural worry that Tim could see was likely deeper than he wanted to expose. His eyes bore a brightness of loving everyone, and the fact such an expression was openly worn on a paladin of Voltron made him confused.

His sight tripled while he attempted to focus on the group from the screens. The last thing he remembered was their fight against the Altean's and the electricity shocking him into darkness. He peered down at his hands which were calloused in blistered burns adhered in raw and exposed places with rubber from the controls. His arms were smoking though no longer hot, sharp pain shocked up the bones there but he was feeling energized in basic instincts to fight. Still, how had he survived that attack?

"We need to be sure Shiro is okay." The one in red armor had his arms folded across his chest, wielding a blade in his right hand that Tim recognized as Galra. That made him feel marginally better, knowing someone was like him meant where ever he was could provide similar species and language. Tim watched their face contort into quick anger, and their gloved hand pounded on the jaw of the black lion demanding them to open.

Tim noted they were all in armor-- lacking the black paladin was audibly the reason they were worried about their friend. The green paladin was sitting on the floor with a computer open and working with the one in yellow in an attempt to hack into the lion.

"Black, I don't think I am your paladin, but help me out here," Tim ran his fingers over the controls in a comforting pet before reaching up to remove his helmet. The sound against his head wound made a disgusting squelching noise, and he honestly wanted to throw up at the smell of burned hair tips released into the immediate space.

Tim was a hybrid of human and galra, skin a blend of blotchy purple and warm cream like someone watercolored him in random designs. His eyes were yellow, with a piercing violet iris framed with thick eyebrows that were tilted upward to give him a feline appearance. Tim's ears were long and pointed, though human shaped and style, unlike his mothers who took on the traditional galra features. At least he could still hear really well.

"Wake up if you can. Just enough to let me see what's happening. I'll get you fixed up so quick you won't even remember hurting so bad," Tim paused only to slide forward the chair, situating it more comfortably while the banging resumed on the lion. "Do you miss this Shiro person? Were they your paladin? I'll save them alright? I promise I will figure this out. You can trust me, I have earned my place as a paladin even if I don't belong-- well here."

Tim's voice was calm and caring, but he was also feeling a thunder of impatience to not fully understanding what was going on. He's gathered intel about multiverses and even had speculated being able to travel to another with the group after they learned about the materials their lions were made from. It was looking very likely he might have been teleported into another universe after their fight with the Altean King. How would he even begin to fix this if that was the reality? There had to be millions of possibilities-- how could he get home?

"The lights are on in the cockpit, Shiro must be in there," the voice came through the comm within the space. The yellow paladin had climbed up into the front of the black lion and was attempting to peer in through the eyes. Tim ducked down, so he wasn't seen.

"They aren't going to like a stranger being in here over their friend--" Tim scratched the back of his neck with sharp nails, black hair curled around his ears from sweating under the helmet mused worse the longer he tugged it. Sliding down under the console he commenced pulling various wires, bringing up a computer screen and inaugurated hacking into her with haste. He met his match instantly, the glasses icon of the young appearing green paladin darted up on the screen, and Tim huffed an amused laugh at the strange encounter and challenge.

"Sorry kiddo, you are no match for me," Tim's fingers flew over the controls, the keys lighting up in a sequenced blend of galra that the other likely didn't understand without that translator program which he temporarily destroyed with a favorite virus. Plugging in a chip stored in his forearm armor, he let the worm download and infiltrate her system while he tried to get black back up and running.

"Wait-- someone is hacking my hack!" he heard over the comm, and he chuckled at their high voice. Were they all a bunch of kids in this place? God to be that young again, Tim didn't know how old he was in Earth years, but he's been a paladin of Voltron in his world for almost a decade now-- putting him around twenty-five if an age needed to be placed on his body. He felt older if he was honest, war and space had a way of making time feel forever.

"Get in there, is Shiro okay, Pidge! Come on! You are the brains of this group! Black Lion!! Open up now!"

Tim glanced up at the screen and saw the blue paladin's expression change into frustration while he shouted. Great. He's been here for a few minutes, and he's already managed to piss off the one in blue to the point they almost had their bayard taken away by the princess. Blue had guns as well? Tim chuckled. His husband was both the blue paladin and also wielded guns. An eerie yet pleasant coincidence.

"Something is really wrong, Princess can you get the lion to open?"  
"No, I am afraid not,"

Tim felt a deep purr rumble out as he fixed what was broken within her systems. They must have had a big fight to have so many corrupted files, beyond the physical damage whatever weapon hit the black lion had caused internal malfunctioning. They had been in a difficult battle themselves before he showed up here.

In Tim's universe, Voltron had proved to be a match for the Altean's high technology energy systems. Unfortunately, the Altean's in their war had the upper hand in this fight and had figured out how to teleport in a damaging way. Splitting Voltron with ease they had sent them spiraling everywhere, but Tim had managed to beat the plan-- at least he thought he had used the teleporting of the black lion to backpedal through the wormhole. When he came out on the other side he had been met with electrifying power from their weapon-- flashes of a fight he hadn't been apart of took over his screen. Screaming, he had been so sure he had a grip on their weapon, but it became too much, blackness erupted over his sight and his face smashed forward into the console to seal his fate.

If he was here though, where had the Altean weapon ended up? Tim wondered if this Shiro had teleported into his dimension. Were the black lions messing with them? Or had it been a multi-universe glitch with their teleportation powers?

Tim's brain was attempting to do far too many things at once, and with the dizziness to a likely concussion, he settled to focus on fixing Black. The screen was filled with upset paladins, and out of the corner of his eye, he could see them beginning to argue.

"There, try to stand," Tim spoke quietly after many minutes, and the lion started to rise up as his control over her came more to life. The paladin's below looked wary and confused over excited. They were shouting for Shiro through the comms, frantically trying to understand why the lion's mouth wouldn't open and allow them access to their friend. It was touching, and Tim felt a little guilty about dismissing the group of teenagers.

Black had other opinions now that she was functioning. She lowered her head like she was sighing and settled for opening her mouth to kick the stranger from her confines. Tim gritted his teeth, rising from the floor and pulled the black bayard out. With a swift descent, he jabbed it into the console.

"Sorry Black but I need a minute here before they freak out on me," the Lion roared, hurling back all the young paladins who stumbled many steps comically in shock. Wings materialized on Black's back, Tim focused on the bond with this lion which was there but not right in the sense it was the one he cared deeply about. This power of the lion had been one Tim never felt comfortable within all his time as a paladin. Maybe they used Voltron enough that he didn't worry about honing it, the dangers of teleportation were a risk in themselves. But maybe, just maybe he could find this Shiro and switch them back.

A blade met his throat, and he glanced sideways at the red paladin who was heaving under his visor.

"Who are you?"

Tim smirked, with quick reflexes he slammed his wrist into the purple outlined blade to knock it away from his throat and pulled himself up and over the chair in an impressive flip. His tail balanced him into a turn to land smoothly on the ground, with a reach into the air his bayard flew out of the console and into his hand to materialize into a dagger.

"Calm down," he said just as the red paladin attacked him. Their blades struck over and over, a clash of metal that left sparks in their face from the close proximity. Tim was quicker and more seasoned with the weapon, and he'd not admit it so promptly-- but he could have taken the young paladin down if he hadn't been so injured. His fighting style made every cell in his body use up the dwindling energy he had. This was confirmed when a surprise cut carved into his cheek, the blade moving to also slice into his shoulder but Tim changed his bayard into a short staff and swept their feet out from under them.

With a burst of speed, he gripped the thin waist of the other and threw them to the front of the lion's mouth with impressive strength. Tim moved carefully to the exit area, holding a defensive position while five people were now glaring at him as he had the staff end jutted into the red paladin's neck and shoulder pressure point to keep him down and stilled.

"I am not interested in fighting-- this is a cosmic mistake,"

"Let Keith go!" the blue paladin had a sniper rifle drawn, likely aimed for his heart. He was mildly impressed if this situation wasn't likely to turn so dire. With a careful step back he let this Keith person go, watching him roll out of immediate reach but stayed close with his sword pointing at him.

"You are in black paladin armor--" the one in a dress tilted her head as if confused. Her surprised voice made his spine tingle at the accent, and battle instincts immediately didn't trust her. What was an Altean doing here? "That is impossible-- where is Shiro?" she continued with an impressive frown.

"I don't know who Shiro is, but I am a Black Paladin of Voltron. I think there is a universal mix-up," Tim declared, and finally sighed in defeat. The black lion purred in reassurance, and the other paladins heard the rumbling noise while she lowered him towards the ground respectively, and he stepped onto the floor of the ship. With a flick of his wrist, he changed his bayard to its standard shape and attached to his side. Tim lifted his hands in surrender. He needed time to think, and if that meant sitting in a cell, it was better than causing problems against so many.

No one moved, and he lifted a brow at that in a challenge.

"That strangely makes sense," the green paladin's brows were furrowed, and she began typing frantically at the computer. "That hack was really impressive, that worm you used completely destroyed my program, which first off-- rude. But also-- so neat. I'm going to copy--"

"Pidge!" the mustache wearing person interrupted the green paladin. He talked elaborately with his hands, and Tim noticed how they were all comfortably standing shoulder to shoulder meaning they truly were all family. He grimaced knowingly. This place was so similar yet so different. Actual Altean's working with Voltron, what a bizarre sight.

Tim kept his hands up, and the yellow paladin moved over to lock cuffs on his wrists. He let him, finding the larger ones touch gentle even if a little shaky in nerves or fear that made him sure this was, the better call than fighting them.

"Wait a quiznack minute!"

"Lance, be quiet-- who are you. What is your name," Keith was the one with the Galra blood. Tim's heart pounded actively to being addressed and glanced to the side to see the familiar blade. Keith was eying him cautiously, but Tim could tell he was interested in whatever he had to say.

"Timothy Drake,"

"Where are you from?" Keith continued, "and where is Shiro."

Tim huffed almost exasperated. "I am from Earth sector T-89 of the Scorpion Star Cluster, fellow Blade, and the Black Paladin of Voltron for the last decade. I was in a battle before I woke up here, my ship took a substantial hit."

Tim's brain was running over every possibility, but he was also exhausted. His body felt sluggish from fighting the red paladin and after being electrocuted, with a possible concussion, and a teleport through space into another place altogether-- he needed rest.

"Listen, I know this is overwhelming, but I can assure you I know the ins and outs of Black. Teleporting is a glitchy skill no matter how good of a pilot you are-- it could be your Shiro, and I switched places when we used it at the same time within a similar battle. I have no idea how to fix this without rest."

"We need answers now," Keith seemed angry at the demand, but Tim could pick up another emotion swirling in his violet eyes. A pang of sadness caught him off guard because of it-- would he see Jason again? An ache in grief punched him into knots. Tim took a step back towards the yellow paladin, "please take me wherever, a cell if you must. I need to think."

"Hunk, don't take his orders so easily!" Lance exclaimed loudly, his hands flailing about. The green paladin was also standing up as if to stop their walking away. Hunk had a comfortable grip on Tim's bicep and shook his head towards the other. Tim got a strong feeling he was the heart of the group, and he appreciated his character in a time like this. He was just like Duke.

"Nope, Lance, Pidge-- stop it. We all are confused, and I admit-- this is kind of weird. But we just fought Zarkon guys--"

"Wait, Zarkon?" Tim's face fell, and Hunk turned to him with a confused nod to the interruption.

"Yeah man, Emperor Zarkon is the badest bad here, we just defeated him,"

Shit. So this place was a hybrid of close things and total opposites. Did they know about Prince Lotor then? Was King Alfor alive?

"Hunk, please take him to the hold, and we can discuss our options after we all shower and eat, and perhaps rest a bit,"

"Princess, you think this is a good idea? I mean, this could be an elaborate trap set up by Zarkon to send this person in Shiro's place. That attack was--"

"Coran, I am sure. I trust him-- I am not certain why, but I agree. We all had a hard battle. Let us pause,"

Hunk led Tim to the holding cells, standard designs from a visual standpoint but Tim had to admit he's only ever infiltrated Altean tech to get in and out not to sleep in. Seeing it work as a home was a whole other side of things he wasn't entirely prepared for, especially realizing he was on a ship that he's battled against for years. The quiet surfaced immediately after the door slid shut, and he took a moment to slide down to the bed. Dismantling his paladin armor freed him to lay down, and he did for an unknown amount of time.

The door slid open with a release of compressed air and Hunk walked in with a tray of food.

"Hey-- Timothy right? Here ya go, um-- food goo, sorta strange if you aren't used to it but I fixed up a little extra for you," Tim's stomach growled in response to their being food and quickly thanked the teen before diving into the strange texture without abandonment.

"Whoa, slow down. Drink this,"

Tim was handed a cup, and he sniffed it once before he chugged it comically down. Hunk's laugh filled the cell, but they didn't hit him with a hundred questions while he ate, and Tim was grateful.

"Tim is fine,"

"Tim sounds like an Earth name," Hunk commented, and Tim glanced up from the tray to see the other gathering up his armor. A pang of concern hit him over that, but he would be respectful to their needs for now. His bayard was under his pillow with his blade, and those were safe for now. Would they want those? Probably.

"The Scorpion Star Cluster is Earth protected," Tim's head cocked a little, the points of his ears turning curiously upwards.

"Wow, so Earth actually got into space and populated a sector?" Hunk seemed genuinely curious, so Tim nodded.

"Um, yeah. Humans take up about twenty-four percent of the genome within the universe-- wait you believe me?" Tim finished his food a little slower now while that information sank in for Hunk.

"Yeah sure, why would you lie? Also if Pidge believes you? Then I do. But huh-- that's pretty wild. Humans are only on Earth here-- are you half galra and human or something?"

"I was hoping you wouldn't ask me a bunch of questions so soon," Tim smiled though, revealing slightly sharpened incisors. Hunk's eyes lingered on his tail, which had a tuff of purple fur along the tip. He rolled it to his side, so it wasn't so obvious. Hunk held out a napkin to the blood on his cheek, and Tim took the tissue in hand.

"I am, so is your Keith right?"

"Oh, we don't know what or how much-- but he definitely turns purple sometimes? And he's got that blade--"

"Hunk?! Why are you telling him all this?!" Keith was standing by the door, frowning handsomely and frustrated. Tim chuckled.

"You think I am a spy,"

"I don't know what you are-- all I know is the facts. You were where Shiro was supposed to be," Keith nodded towards the door, and Hunk took Tim's armor to be inspected and looked over.

Tim pushed the tray to the bed and situated in a painful standing position.

"The concept of multi-dimensions and universes living so close together isn't a new area of study. Voltron is made up of selective metals and materials that can handle such travel--" Tim cocked his head, ears twitching to the breathing just out of view. Was someone else out there listening in? Curious, group they all were. They really were young, and it could be adorable if he weren't trapped with a bunch of amateurs.

"So you think Shiro, and you switched?"

"It is the only good hypothesis I have at the moment," Tim thought he could stand longer, but he slid sideways without warning. Keith grabbed his arm and steadied him.

"I think-- I might be more hurt than I realized," Keith had him sit down.

"You are bleeding through your sleeves, how--" Keith was pulling at his long sleeve shirt, and Tim realized then that the material was sticking to his skin. Pulling up in a viscous dampness filled with partially melted flesh to the fabric. Adrenaline finally subsided, and fatigue took over in making him fall completely in dizzy pain.

"Lance! I know you are out there! Get Coran and the Princess, he needs to get into a healing pod-- like," Tim's eyes closed, and all his body seemed to be back on fire. Whatever was said was a blur of conscious, but the memories of that last fight were sheering into the back of his eyelids.

What had happened? Why did the lion bring him here?


	2. Rest and Regroup

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Segway chapter before they get into a routine and work on finding Shiro. : ) *also a paladin snuggle pile is my life*

"What the cheese!" Lance tossed his hands up into the air with a pace in his steps once the pod sealed closed. Keith watched Lance's frustrating strides, rubbing his shoulder where most of the weight from their current prisoner had tweaked the alignment to cause discomfort. Lance had helped bare the dead weight so it must have been from their earlier fight, or the scar tissue was acting up again. Keith walked over to steps and settled on the second one, gaze upward towards the now sleeping stranger.

"Keith-- are you listening?" A hand waved in front of his face after an unknown amount of time and Keith settled on the movement over catching the raised brow of concern on Lance's face.

"Listening to you ramble?" was his whity response, Lance groaned and kicked the step as if that had been the worse thing Keith could have said to him and plopped right by his side.

"Don't you think it's weird the Lion knew them? Black started up and everything-- if you hadn't gotten in they might have teleported out of the hanger, and we'd never know what was happening," Lance muttered this, and Keith's exhaustion settled into his bones. He was worried, Lance always voiced it over letting it stew under his rib cage like a festering wound like he did. Keith was nervous this newcomer had spoken nothing but the truth, and from what Pidge and Hunk were relaying back to them, it seemed to confirm the likelihood.

It was a lot to take in. Fingers traced down his bicep featherlight, and somehow it brought his eyes off the pod and to the guy sitting next to him.

"Your shoulder bugging you?" Lance diverted the conversation because of his silence. Keith found himself feeling guilty for not realizing he hadn't said anything since they took Tim here, no matter Lance and Coran had been communicating with him the entire time.

"It's not pain, just soreness around the scar," Keith surprised himself in responding with the truth. "I'm mostly worried about Shiro. He doesn't deserve to be lost in space again. I wish it had been me."

"Whoa, Keith-- buddy, we can't think like that okay? You, well you don't deserve being lost-- either." Lance finished the last word quite lamely and covered it up with warm hands that slipped over Keith's shoulder, pressing lightly into the tight muscles there. Keith sighed gently to the pressure.

"I know, I know," Keith's chin dipped down, all of his body wanted to relax and calm down, but his mind wanted to continue to plan and map out an answer as soon as possible.

"Alright, you two! Off to bed now, we need well-rested paladins in case we missed something even bigger than Shiro! So scoot!" Coran marched in with a purpose and waved them off the steps. They left the stranger in the pod with Coran who had previously reassured them he would keep an eye on them, regardless they would be in there for at least a day. They had time to rest as requested.

Lance walked with him until they strode past Pidge's room. She was sitting on her bed wearing comfortable looking pajamas, not sleeping like the rest of them and sheepishly waved them both in.

"Hey, guys. It's not like we are going to sleep right?" she smirked, lifting her head to reveal her tired expression the glasses had blocked from the light from the computer. "You can keep me company if you like."

Keith can count on one hand the number of times Pidge offered her room to any of them, or primarily him. He wasn't good at working through the emotions attached to family and friends as well as he liked, but he wasn't blind to the fact Pidge didn't want to be alone. Keith understood the feeling well, and even though he had expected to say goodnight to Lance and go to his empty room for the night, he felt a warmth of comfort that they were welcome here.

"Sure Pidge," Lance fondly said for them both, and the edge of his shirt sleeve was yanked lightly to encourage Keith into the room.

"Found these," Hunk appeared in the doorway a second later holding a few small crates with supplies in them. "Pidge, you have to let us clean up your room if you are insisting a sleepover. This place is a mess." Hunk's forehead was raised in a dry tease just as one of the critters from 'junk Keith' jumped onto his shoulder.

"What? No way, don't touch my stuff!" Pidge did glance around her space from her crisscrossed seated position that was strategically empty around her to fit her tiny frame. A blush hit her cheeks, and she groaned realizing Hunk was right.

"Pidge, you and Hunk can work, Keith-- relax for once, now me," Lance clicked his tongue, and dramatically cracked his knuckles while snapping his arms out the front of him as if he needed to stretch. "I am the most qualified to cleaning a sibling room without disrupting anything. Prepare to be dazzled!"

Keith honestly found it easier to let Lance show off in some circumstances like this. Pidge seemed worried for only a few seconds before she chose to dive into building a piece of tech with Hunk. Keith watched them work from the only open spot in the corner of the bed which happened to be on top of Pidge's pillow.

He liked her chamber. It was filled with scrap parts and souvenirs of all their adventures. Keith had meant to work on his room. Back in the cabin had allowed him to the chance to gather things he liked or enjoyed to look at. Most of it was work, but there was comfort in having hobbies and a purpose take up a space that was yours. Just like Pidge liked her room messy.

"Keith, look this over will ya?" Hunk handed him a laptop, and Keith readily took it, cracking it open to peek at what they were coding. He was smarter than people gave him credit for, math had always come effortlessly. Growing up in various homes made him want to show off in hopes that his good grades could award him some affection. Not that he got as much as he wished to, but Keith eventually fine-tuned himself to get used to working hard and striving to understand anything he didn't get.

"Beep-- Beep," Lance's warm side settled on the bed while he moved past all the items crowding on top of it, and Keith's attention lifted from the screen he was typing on to see the room was somewhat organized and yet not entirely clean. Pidge seemed genuinely happy at that and smiled sweetly at Lance in thanks. Keith noticed the fondness on Lance's expression before it hinted to a shaky inhale as if it was all bittersweet.

"So, what are we working on?" Lance inquired quickly, leaning entirely against Keith's side and peering at the computer screen he had up. Keith was combing through a section of code that had some Galra symbols in it and reorganizing it all with more ease than they might have realized or that he has shared.

"Keith, can you read that?" Lance asked, pointing to the words that hadn't gone through Pidge's translations programs.

"Some of it, ever since I learned I was part-Galra, I have been trying to teach myself their language. Could come in handy if one of us can. Especially for infiltration, sometimes we might not have the time for programs to run," Keith responded, earning him three sets of eyes blinking quietly at him.

"What? I'm Galra, shouldn't I speak it?" confusion and worry he messed up ached warmly in his belly, but Hunk was the one to reassure him this time around.

"Yep buddy, you are our Galra expert now being Galra Keith,"

They all groaned. Keith hated it, but also there was something special in how Hunk said it that made him feel almost proud to be.

"Galra Keith and Keith are the same person Hunk, how many times do I gotta tell ya!" Lance tossed his hands up and shook his head. Keith wondered how often this conversation happened without him.

"No, Galra Keith is way funnier. I swear it," Hunk added, and at that Keith and him shared a knowing smile. Lance peered back and forth between them comically.

"Wait a minute, did you guys have bonding moment that I didn't know about? What's funny? What did you say? Do?" Lance rambled right into his ear being so close to him, and Keith honestly laughed from his gut. Turning to look Lance in the face.

"Lance, stop. We might have had a 'your mama' joke contest on a night we couldn't sleep a few weeks ago, but I can admit-- I lost spectacularly being that I have no idea what a mother is 'not' supposed to be without it being sad."

Keith offered a small self-depreciating smile, and Hunk nodded enthusiastically.

"Mhmm, I totally won. But human Keith would never have tried such a thing," Hunk added chiming another round of groans.

"Guys, back to helping me go through these beacons so we can determine if this part of space is safe so we can get back to the location we lost Shiro without having to fight a disorganized fleet of Galra ships?" Pidge managed all those words in one breath, but she was smiling while she spoke as if the conversation had exceedingly entertained her, but realty in their roles and being in a war that might not entirely be over settled on the four paladins immediately.

They all stayed up way too late working.

When Keith rose to consciousness, there was a hand wrapped around his chin and neck, resting comfortably to where their thumb was able to twitch against his cheek. He was warm and completely cocooned. A mumble came from his left side tucked near his neck, and he quickly realized there was a chin against his stomach. Glancing down revealed a Pidge curled up like a tiny cat by his side, her arms tossed around his waist, and she was using his belly as a body pillow, which made sense since he was sitting on it before they fell asleep.

Hunk was behind him, sitting up against the wall holding a computer in one hand, but it was his right hand wrapped around Keith's head like he thought it was a stuffed animal to pet. Lance, well-- Keith had to swallow everything down, and as gently as possible pull himself away from the other who was comfortably nestled by his side as if belonged there, his one arm tossed over Pidges shoulder protectively, and his breath dotted on Keith's collarbone. It took five seconds to realize he was trapped.

"Keith, buddy-- go back to sleep," Lance mumbled, and the sleepy sound made him chuckle when he tried to move.

"You are all squishing me; I can't feel my arm under you," Keith responded. Lance lifted his head, and Keith pulled it out which allowed him to let Hunk's hand fall near Lance, who promptly took advantage of the new arm to turn around and pull Hunk into the warm spot. Once able to lift up he grabbed the pillow he had compensated and situated it under Pidge so he could while his way out of the bed entirely. He stood in the center of the room for a few minutes and snapped three pictures on the tablet before exiting the room.

He was always a deep sleeper. Dreams often plagued him, and sometimes nightmares, but when he was exhausted he was usually lights out once he hit the pillow. It hadn't been the first time they all fell asleep together, but it had been the first time he felt so happy waking up with all of them. Still, in his old clothes, he made to change and shower before heading to the infirmary.

The pod was still active, this Tim person was inside and sleeping while it healed up his wounds.

"Morning Keith," Allura walked in looking fresh and well slept being that they all likely were down for longer than intended. "You were up pretty late."

"We were," he waved the tablet with the program on it in proof. "We locked down a few coordinates that we should look into that are likely to have Galra prisoners. If Shiro had teleported because it was Zarkon, we wonder if that would be a good place to start over tackling a multi-dimension theory."

Allura settled into a chair and moved to a desk that was free from clutter. She rested her hands under her chin and was glaring at the stranger in the pod.

"I have never seen a human before, I mean-- even back then before I woke up until I saw you all. To imagine the Galra mating with your kind," Allura paused, appearing like she was trying not to be insensitive. "Well, it does raise a lot of questions as to where they are from. We know you have Galra DNA, but honestly, I assumed you were one of a kind because thinking about the Galra anywhere near your planet is terrifying."

"Since the Blue Lion was there I can only imagine how all this happened. It's not like I remember a lot about my family. Regardless, I have given it some thought since I woke up. I think we can trust them, if for that reason alone. We know humans can't be this deep in space, its impossible. They speak as if in their dimension the humans have taken over so much of the universe."

Keith settled near the desk on the other side. Allura brushed her bang from her cheek and looked Keith in the eye. They didn't have to say it, they both missed Shiro's voice in all this right now. He would know exactly what to say, how to handle Tim, and better how to aid them in return. It was up to them now, and Keith wasn't sure if they could work that out without Voltron.

"Which brings up the issue at hand, if they are a Black Paladin then maybe while we work on finding a way to open a portal into their dimension, it might be a good idea to see how they operated Voltron there. Get some insight," Keith was cautious, but he was too practical to miss an opportunity to learn more from someone who could pilot the Black Lion.

"If you think it wise, I personally don't trust them," Allura said knowingly, and if Keith had heard anything else from her, it would have been a disappointment. Allura always saw the worse when it was something she didn't understand, and it was that constant that allowed him to see things from many angles. Sometimes he missed the worst in people because he would just react.

This was why he couldn't ever be the leader Voltron needs like Shiro. But he did know his teammate's weaknesses and strengths, and through them, they could help him lead right?

"I know, I'm going to--" Keith stood up when the chamber released a hissing sound, and the monitor started going off in rapid alarms. Allura rushed over and pushed a few buttons on the console, but the pod was disengaging, the cold pressurized air steamed out and Keith moved quickly forward to catch Tim before his face hit the floor. He was freezing, and his teeth were chattering while he wrapped a clawed hand around Keith's forearm to stabilize his weak legs.

"Whoa, you are okay-- I think, why did the pod release him early?" Keith asked Allura as he leaned to the side and grabbed a blanket to toss over them both in an attempt to share some body heat.

"You... put... me... in... one-- of those," the chattering teeth made it difficult to understand what they were saying, but Keith nodded in response.

"Ugh, Altean's and their quick fixes, please give me some room," Keith let the blanket settle over Tim's shoulder's while he stood up and took a step back. Being only in a pair of undershorts it was no wonder he was freezing; they couldn't put the suit on with all the damage to his skin. With the bare exposure, Keith could see all the blotchy patches of purple and human skin. It was like someone took watercolors and painted the purple on in random designs. It was beautiful really, not how he had expected someone with mixed genes to look. He wondered if he would eventually have something similar.

"Stop staring at me," Tim narrowed his eyes at him though it didn't have any bite to it. Keith didn't look away.

"Have you been in the pod before?" Tim asked Keith who shook his head no. He had decided not to get into one after the Blade of Marmora trials, which was why the scars from that fight sometimes caused him some issues.

"Galra and Altean tech don't mesh too well sometimes across our species, I'm surprised you put me in there at all," Tim sighed. "Regardless, thank you for the hasty decision, though please don't do that again."

"How do you know this?" Allura asked from afar not making to move any closer. Tim pulled the blanket tightly over his exposed body.

"My husband is part Altean, we have run into plenty of issues because of it,"

"Part Altean?" Princess Allura almost seemed faint, and Keith couldn't blame her. All this time they had run into a mixture of races and aliens, but the idea of offspring of Altean's not being pure Altean was a strange thing to hear.

"He's human and altean," Tim seemed a little sad thinking about it, and the room grew quiet while their prisoner-- or well. Keith's eyes narrowed in thought. There were a lot of ways to handle this, but his gut was telling him to trust this man. It took someone extraordinary to pilot the black lion and if he compared in mental strength to Shiro then in a roundabout way he had his trust. The Galra could fight-- and he knew tech. There had to be away to help him and also get Shiro back. Whatever anger he had previously felt had long burned out when he slept, and right now in this very second Keith felt confident in what he was about to say.

"You are under my charge until we work out a plan, will you present a problem if I allow you to roam free?" Keith decided to keep it blunt, and to the point, Allura looked slack-jawed to the tone and suggestion, but he ignored her for the moment as his instinct to make his position clear became a priority.

Tim nodded, keeping eye contact respectfully. "You are the Red Paladin, rash and running on instinct because you are looking for the correct path to run on to achieve your goal." Tim smirked, "I hear you Red Paladin; I will not present a problem. I assure you, I want to be back in my timeline or universe as soon as possible. I will help you."

"Then, let's get you some clothes-- a spare room and you can start getting your thoughts together about everything," Keith moved forward and offered his hand up, Tim took it. Coran walked in then, shock comically had his mouth hanging open to what he was seeing, but Keith nodded towards the older member in greeting. Allura thankfully spoke up.

"Coran, can you please get Mr. Drake situated into a guest room," Allura asked, and Coran though shocked, nodded quickly and ushered Tim out of the room. Keith stayed standing still for a few seconds; his heart was racing for some reason, likely adrenaline was peaking from speaking up and taking charge of the situation without asking about it. Allura's hand met his shoulder, and he peaked over to her while she passed him.

"Ordinarily I would be put off with such brashness, but Keith-- I have, well. Know that I trust you. Shiro told me-- in confidence mind you, he would want you to run this team should anything happen to him, so I will--" she didn't finish, but Keith felt warmed at the notion of having her support.

"Thanks, Allura," she pat his shoulder and left the infirmary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a thousand Keith headcanons that involve his smarts and training that extends beYOND the training room vs drones, it also moves into Keith seeing more than he speaks about which is the reason he gets a bad rap for being rash but in reality he's using his team to see things from many angles. Hit me with ur headcanons that are outside fanon!keith, I need more leader!keith in my life bye
> 
> Also, Jason being part!Altean mm I need all the mixed babies please B)


	3. Swift and Nimble

He felt marginally better after a day. The pod had healed him from life-threatening issues, and his skin meshed back to a smooth texture over wrinkled burns or scars that likely would have happened had he not have been shoved into one. Tim was irritated they hadn't realized how dangerous it was to put him in there for an extended time than they had. He had to be a little more careful while he was in this dimension or maybe he could show them how to calibrate the pod to cover more aliens than they know exist to include them in the future.

Tim was meditating, legs crossed in the center of the mind-melding room which he didn't actually know was such a space. He could feel Black's low purr in his conscious, reassurance he was welcome to the Black Lion in his dimension was greatly calming.

Jason used to make fun of him when he meditated; his husband was someone who liked to pick on you and pull your 'pigtails' to get attention. Tim had captured him the first time they had met because Jason had tried to be a stowaway on his damn ship. Tim locked him up chains and everything and still came to lose him before he could sleep. Jason Todd was a man of many talents, but getting out of a dangerous situation was probably what made him a hero.

He missed him. Tim is collective and calm, he could see many pathways and objectively decide for himself or a team with ease, but when it came to keeping the team together-- that was always the role of the Blue Paladin. Speaking of which...

"Hey, um-- Tim was it? Yeah, sooooo-- this is kinda awkward cause I don't really know why Keith is letting you around so freely and I kinda pointed my bayard at your head! But I trust him-- and I mean," the ramble came from the Blue Paladin who was standing in his armor and holding his Bayard. Tim smiled fondly and waited patiently.

"You have been in here for a while, and I sorta need to practice? Mind switching places?" Lance finished with his hands raised slightly as if he could look any cuter asking.

"This is a training room?" Tim asked, not entirely realizing it being in an Altean ship.

"Yeah! Robots, and there's this maze, and we work on our mind connections here," Lance implies, pointing to the control room and up towards the ceiling. Tim followed the movement and then exhales to clear his mind from its calm place.

"Ok, care if I join?" he rolled backward, using his tail to pivot him into an elegant back turn that had him landing gracefully on his feet. Lance watched the movement with a raised brow in wonderment but found himself nodding.

"You have your Bayard?"

"Oh, no actually. But that is fine. I don't need it all the time. Let's see what this room can give me,"

"Showing off already--um Black Paladin?" Lance's tone has a hint of sarcasm and a dash of hurt likely thinking about their missing comrade.

Tim smirked a little. "That isn't the only title I have kid."

Lance shouted out a command, and the ceiling opened up in round disks before three robots dropped down into the white room. He could easily hear Lance taking a back position, remembering his sniper rifle and the assault-style rifle from the hanger. Tim cracked his knuckles, lifting his hand to run his thumb across his lip as genuine excitement filled him. How fun.

"Watch out they are fa--" Lance screeched something, but he could hear the swoosh of the sword prominently which drowned out the laser shots from the Blue Paladins Bayard. Tim ducked, sweeping his feet out to disable the robot's stance to bury his claws into its bicep, with a flip he was on the robots back without a chance to retaliate, Tim's legs wrapped around their neck and he dropped his weight backward to send it toppling. Lance whooped and shot the head of the robot while it was falling taking it out.

Tim rolled when a sword collided right where he had been kneeling, he circled again, using his tail to keep his balance while he kept leaping vigorously out of immediate danger of being cut in half. A grin was broad on his face, fangs exposed and the yellows of his eyes seemed to glow the more interesting the practice went. It might have looked like he was only getting out of the way, but he was watching how the robot fought on this level, it was a program, after all, there would be distinctive area's to shift the code into a more difficult fight. Agility was probably this levels primary objective.

Excellent. Tim pressed his hands into the ground, and with a mighty leap, he jumped right over the robot, landing on the other side. The drone turned to look at him, and at that moment Lance put a shot right in the back of its head.

"Wow, great shot--" the robot disappeared, and Tim charged for the last one, evading quickly to avoid having his head chopped off, and dug his claws into the wrist of the robot-- ripping the metal open. The sword it was wielding clashed to the floor, and Tim wrapped his tail around it, throwing it into the air where he caught it and buried it into the chest of the robot before it could do anything about it.

"Holy, Quiznack!"

"Holy what now?" Tim was surprised to hear the curse word again, but his attention was on the program that disengages entirely in the room. The robots disappeared, and the ceiling took on a bluish tint that must have gave a visual cue it was ready to accept another command. This room was fascinating.

"Quiznack, it's-- well I actually don't know what it means--"

"It means fuck if you are from Earth, just in Altean,"

"What?!"

Tim chuckled a little at that, waving the gaping fish expression on Lance's face.

"Anyway, so you are the sharpshooter of this group," he asked a little winded and turned to face Lance properly.

"Yeppp-- earned it too. I don't usually miss,".

Tim could tell this kid liked praise, so he awarded it.

"That great shot you took was dangerous with me on the robots back, but it was very accurate. Might have been better to aim for the chest though if it were a living organism, it would have killed it all the same."

"We don't kill living people," Lance rubbed the back of his head, he seemed young to Tim and almost innocent. "Mostly we are battling drones which makes this room helpful for training I suppose."

"Ah, right Galra Empire is the bad guys here so you would fight a lot of drones," Tim sighed. It was an intriguing piece of information, but there was a small part of him that was thankful these kids hadn't experienced the war they had; Tim had killed so many people, he isn't sure the number.

"That leg move you did, up and around their neck-- you should show Keith how to do that," Lance's entire expression changed in an instant and Tim had to hide the knowing smile behind his hand from it. It looked so familiar, the widened pupils, the slightest blush near his jawline and artery from an increased pulse. Did this Lance like Keith-- how cute.

"Keith is your swordsmen,"

"We call him Samari,"

"You are the only one who calls me that," Keith is frowning, but there is a fondness in his gaze that Tim finds almost assertive.

"That move is to kill, so it might not be necessary," Tim calmly explained. Keith was watching them the entire time; he had caught his scent the moment he walked in. Lance took off his helmet and tucked it under his arm while Keith moved into the room to meet them in the middle.

"You trained without your Bayard?"

"Absolutely, it was necessary at times to escape over a fight. Learning to dodge and deflect was the basis for most of the discipline I studied, I was their main infiltrator, so it was important I could get in and out without having to tire myself out in a battle,"

The two teenagers were quiet, so Tim took the chance to look at them better. This dimension was making a little more sense the longer he was here. It was, calmer-- they were still at war, and there was a lot of stress here that he immediately felt from their situation, but there wasn't mass genocide, there weren't planets exploding and causing unbalance in their universe. What precisely the Galra were doing is a mystery to him, but if they had a similar weapon as the Altean's did, it would be something to warn them about eventually.

"Do you want to go a round with us Keith?" Lance is asking, and it turns his attention to the Red Paladin who is skinny like him and yet muscular in his upper body. It makes Tim chuckle at the difference. Artemis was an Amazon and she was someone larger than life, both with her heated passion in fighting and surpising to most-- loving as well. It took someone with a great mind to pilot the Red Lion. They had to be tactical and smart being the right hand of Voltron but also had to have confidence they could charge in and tackle something head-on if it was necessary. They had to be incredibly brave.

Tim could never be the Red Paladin, Jason could though. He and Artemis shared a profound bond of friendship that freely gave Jason access to Red in desperate times, that and his love for Tim.

"You alright?" Keith interrupts his thoughts.

"I am, I miss my team that is all. Even though I am the leader, having them to bounce ideas off of is what made us strong, I haven't truly been without them in who knows-- an Earth decade now?"

Keith is rubbing his chin like he is thinking, and he hopes they don't think he's ungrateful when this situation could be far more complicated.

"You all have been Paladins for a whole decade," Lance is gaping again, and Tim has to ask.

"How long have yo--"

"We don't even know!" Lance obstructs the question, and there is sadness in his eyes that make the water hue darken. Tim understands.

"You get used to it," he recognizes he's not helping the hurt on the younger man's face, but he feels some leader sense to keep it blunt.

"Lance, I know you checked out the training room, but why don't you take the afternoon off? Hunk is heading to the space mall with Coran to scout a star map from some pawn shop there. Maybe you should go with them, use that charm of yours?" Keith is trying, Tim can see he doesn't like the look in Lance's eyes, and Lance-- he can tell Keith is seeking to distract him, but he doesn't fight it, only nods.

"Yeah man, I hear you," he walks off slowly, drags to his step Tim is saddened to see.

"He get's homesick," Tim comments quietly, and Keith nods.

"I don't know how to help him with it,"

"There is nothing anyone can do to fix such a thing," Tim sighs. "Do you need me? I was attempting to connect with Black, see if I can tap into her connection with Shiro. I wouldn't be surprised if there is some residue link crossing the void of dimensions," Tim situates back on the floor, crossing his legs.

"No, we are going to intercept a prison ship as soon as Hunk and Coran-- and now Lance return, I am hoping they find this map. Pidge seems confident this alien has it, so I am hopeful it will narrow our warp trajectory,"

"And this prison ship?"

"Last time Shiro was captured, he was on a ship for a while before he was transported to a planet to fight as a gladiator. We're going to see if we can get some information from the ship on any new people acquired,"

"So infiltration?" Tim's smirk is extensive, and Keith chuckled.

"You are staying here," Keith knowingly comments taking a few steps towards the door.

"I'll fight you for it, best out of three. The winner has to pin the other on the ground," Tim stays seated, but his pointed ears hear Keith's steps stop.

"I don't have my Bayard," Keith says simply.

"Does the stand-in leader of Voltron need one all the time?" Tim worries his lip gently with his fangs, feeling the heat rush to them as he tries not to smirk at his Jason level of sass.

"Okay, alright-- fine," the three worded confirmation makes all his cells kindle into enthusiasm. Tim doesn't move, closing his eyes to listen to Keith in the open room. Keith should have good hearing being part Galra. It was a perk, and he wonders immensely who had offered to train him in his species skills. Was the Blade of Mamora a group he could meet? What kind of Galra were they?

The footsteps are close to silent, but Tim hears them, moving to the side with a gentle tilt of his body, hands curled on his knees. He looks like a kid sitting cross-legged on the floor tilting back and forth like this, but Keith's anger sparks immediately at missing the easy punch from behind. It was a good throw, but Keith is using his fists like a sword, and those jutting forward motions are easy to turn the advantage against.

The moment Keith comes at him again, Tim grabs his wrist, pulling hard to the left using the teenager's own momentum. He sends Keith right onto the floor face first, even drawing a little blood from his lip when his jaw collided harshly to the area. He doesn't apologize or comment, but he sees the spark of something dangerous in the other's expression when Keith realizes Tim is still sitting in the same position and he just lost a point with Tim's hand pressing him down on the ground by his side like he was scolding a puppy.

"One," Tim leaned back when Keith lunged at his neck and using the anchored position on Keith's back, flipped over him, wrapping his tail around Keith's arm and sent him sliding across the floor to put some distance between them. Keith rolled and sat up, lip trembling in a swollen intensity of red. Tim appreciated the glare his way. Keith didn't give up, he didn't stop-- not without his team to aid in that control, but it was powerful, and Tim could almost scent it in the air. Under it all, Keith could probably pilot the Black Lion.

"You are nimble, you want to go for the kill, but you should consider the goal-- which isn't actually to kill me," Tim shouldn't be giving him pointers now because he wanted to go on this infiltration job, but it was his weakness. He had to help, had to give his team pointers and criticize them constructively so they could grow and learn.

"Your tail is used for balance, and you can hear well," They are circling each other. "You can anticipate my movement from that alone right?"

"Yes and no. I just have more experience than you," Tim chuckled, "you should be able to hear just as well-- once you take in some quintessence."

"Take in?" Keith looks a little horrified.

"Or get exposed to it in a controlled way. You would probably look a little more like me,"

Keith looks suddenly pale in comparison to his skin tone, so Tim waves him off hoping not to freak him out.

"Just some information for you to store away for later I suppose," Tim decides to charge him this time, and Keith meets him head-on. Their forearms collide to block, the low punches are in a boxing technique, but the high kicks with his shins are very familiar Earth fighting styles.

Tim can feel bruises on his skin from the powerful kicks, and when he goes to block Keith's left leg, he hooks an arm around it and pulls his weight backward to force them both off balance and onto the ground. Keith immediately senses the danger of this and scrambled to get on mount, but Tim is quick, dropping an elbow into Keith's collarbone and wraps his legs around his waist to force his back to the ground.

"Two--" he chimed, and Keith is huffing from the excursion.

"You used my momentum against me," Keith breathes out quickly, and Tim slides off of him to sit on his butt, hands tossed behind him.

"I did, I tend to be that annoying person you can't get your hands on too well. My entire team are huge compared to me, I am the smallest in the group, so I had to learn to train with their body type," Tim can feel a little bit of blood on his forearm from a laceration. Their hair is all mused up, and Keith is faring a little worse with the split lip, but Keith seems content with all this. Taking his loss surprisingly well.

"Like this?" he lunged at Tim who hadn't expected that he turned to move in anticipation of Keith's weight, but Keith had done it on purpose to send him on his stomach, a knee in the small of his back and his left arm pinned behind him. Warm breath ghosted over his ear, and an amused, triumph tone slipped out near it.

"I win,"

"Competitive too, great-- yes, this time Red Paladin," Tim is let up, and Keith is beaming an honest grin his way. Did no one see how much potential was in this man? They held a secure future here if they continued to be challenged in the right direction. He had to find their leader; they needed Shiro.

"Okay, you, me and Pidge will be on this team. Her Lion has invisibility so we can get close,"

"Wait-- what?" he's the one gaping now, and he scrambles up to follow Keith who is taking easy strides out of the room.

"They have invisibility tech--" he hums happily to himself, wanting nothing more but to get his hands on Pidge's notebooks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you are enjoying this. It's a lot of fun, if you have questions hit me up. : ) Cassie


	4. Infiltrate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They make their way onto a Galra battlecruiser to steal some data, but end up with a fight on their hands. Lance also asks Keith out :D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for being patient with me if you are enjoying this. I had most of this chapter written months ago, so I polished it up and posted for those who have been waiting. *kiss*

Lance was on his mind while they were flying towards the prison ship. Keith hated seeing sadness take over the brightness Lance held in any room, it was like a bruise that wouldn’t heal all the way, and Keith felt powerless to reassure him in his homesickness when he didn’t entirely miss Earth. The darkness of space and the adventure of fighting for something he was proud of took precedence to his home planet, and he knew, maybe without admitting it too freely, that if Lance ever saw Earth again, he might lose him for good.

He rubs the edge of his knuckles over the area above his heart.

The stranger, Tim, he is exceptionally seasoned and dangerous. The longer he was with him, the more he was picking up on the soldier mentality woven into his skills and personality. It worried Keith when Tim explained that they fought actual Alteans in their dimension, that robots in a way, were less traumatic to slay. It in a way lessened their experienced because they weren't taking actual lives and Keith agreed that it's better. Shiro and himself were likely the only people on the ship who have taken a life before. The thought of Lance or Hunk, especially Pidge killing an organic being turned his stomach sour.

It wasn't too often Keith found a reason to be thankful for their current situation. To feel fortunate, they were able to infiltrate a hundred percent drone filled ships on their missions made this war seem a hair more straightforward to deal with. The death was still there, enslavement was still an ongoing problem, and those people and aliens caught in the crossfires suffered greatly. But Keith was selfish in a way that people didn't expect of him. He loved his crew, they were family-- and as he looks over to stare at the profile of Tim-- he knows he never wants to see them as war-ridden as him. Even with experience on Tim's side.

The prison ship was set to linger in this quadrant for a while, and Keith was satisfied with the plan to get in and out with relative ease. The star map was exactly what they needed, and much to the delight of everyone, Lance had been the perfect person to send with Coran. Keith smiled remembering Lance running into the Castle wearing a big straw hat and some alien clothes that had his chest out for the world to see. After having been asked to model for their hottest selling items, Coran managed to negotiate for the star map.

Lance was embarrassed, and Keith didn't have the sensitivity to comfort him over picking fun. There are only so many chances to tease Lance while he's looking so ridiculous and cute.

The green lion flew in at Pidge's piloting. Their program could worm its way through Galra computers to take the information they needed quickly and with enough time, if they stay focused, so no one would know any better.

"I still can't get over your adaptations. Luke is going to die when I show him what you designed," Tim's smirk was sharp and full around his fangs, but Keith could tell he was genuine in being excited about it.

"Paladins," Allura's voice came through, and her face showed with a quick click.

"What is it?" Keith leaned close, so she saw him.

"Now that we are in range, there are about a dozen life forms being held captive on the ship-- more precisely-- being ready for transport. It looks as if they were recently dropped off after their ship malfunctioned. It's a rare opportunity for us to intercept one without many fighters should we stay quiet,"

Keith's hand's curls into Pidge's chair. There was no possible way they could let them be taken.

"Don't worry Allura, we will get both done. Have Lance on standby with Hunk near that moon, have everyone be ready to take on passengers, use the planets shadows from the sun to your advantage-- don't be seen or we will be in for a hard fight." Keith nodded towards Allura who clicks off to give those orders.

They fly the invisible green lion to attach itself to the top of the Galra battleship with ease. Red and Black are hidden on the nearby abandoned moon where they could reach them quickly now that they would have passengers. Now, with the addition of Hunk and Lance.

“Let’s just talk the plan over one more time,” Keith was standing just behind Pidge’s chair, arm resting on the top of it to peer out at the expanse of the ship beneath them.

“Simple— we cut in right here,” Pidge pulled up the rough blueprints with the controls, “this room is already in a vacuum so no alarms will go off when we breach.”

Tim chimed in. “We carve in, jump down, and use this device to temporarily seal the room so we can have it accept gravity from the ship.” Tim placed Pidge’s device on his utility belt, looking quite excited at the chance to use it.

“Pidge, you and Tim are the hackers, you both reach the command room, sneak through these hallways or cut this wall and you should be close to the terminal without anyone seeing you,” Keith glanced now at the map where dotted lines showcased their paths. The images will attach to their communicators on their forearms while they are there, so they were all aware of each other's locations.

“And you head this way, once you are there, I’ll be able to open the hatch while I have access to the terminal,“ Pidge continued.

Keith nodded. “I will get the prisoners to this location, most likely I will be fighting by this point as there are five crossing patrols that I won't be able to avoid.” Keith didn’t feel a lot of concern over this, but Tim’s head did turn his way with a furrow to his brow. Keith cleared this throat.

“As soon as we are done, we are taking Green back to Black so we can come to collect everyone,” Tim nodded towards Keith in understanding before turning to attach a few more gadgets to himself. Keith didn’t comment right away, the plan was sound in the idea but things always messed up while on an infiltration mission. Seeing the black paladin armor on Tim froze Keith for a second, he wanted to find Shiro— he wanted his friend back home and not lost again. Although he was thankful to have someone skillful like Tim here to fight with them over against them.

“You said you did infiltration often for your team?” Keith asked again, Tim hummed yes in response, attaching his Bayard as it disappeared into his thigh in a sheen of black light.

“Always, like I said before, my team— they are huge people, I’ve watched on more than one occasion, our engineer Duke get stuck in a vent,” Tim smirked, but Keith can see the woeful worry that the other was probably just as homesick. Tim shrugged. “In my world, I travel on ships like this all the time. My own is different, but the technology is the same. I think Pidge and I can get to this room with complete ease if we use my Galra genes to open the doors.”

“I didn’t think about that,” Keith admitted, “Shiro’s hand did that as well.”

“You should be able to too,” Tim spoke while putting on his helmet, and triggering the front. Pidge's eyes were wide behind her mask, and even her mouth was a little open like she's processing. Keith quickly folded his arms across this chest.

“I figured as much,” Keith grumbled this, and for some reason, he still feels hesitant at wanting to explore any part of his Galra side of himself.

“I am fast, I can get to you in two minutes should you need my help,” Tim said by his side and even offered a hand on his shoulder. “There is no reason to think you are ever alone, even when we have a plan, you can and should call for help when it falls apart.”

The cabin is quiet for a few seconds, Pidge breaks it.

“Wow, you really are the black paladin,” Pidge laughed a little at Keith’s expense, and Tim chuckled like he knew it well. The back hatch opened, and both of them jumped down to the ship to begin cutting.

It was strange to be in the leadership role and also have someone who speaks so confidently to a team like Tim did. Would he ever be like that? Be able to talk frankly without people laughing at him for being cheesy?

Keith's intercom chimes, "Hey Keith?"

Lance's voice carries into his ear, and he paused the jump to click it on.

"Yeah?"  
"Just, um-- well letting you know that we're on the moon and whatnot-- sooo,"

"Good, stay there, stay on the shaded side, so you aren't seen," Keith hopped down the hatch and gently landed on the ship. The sparks from the welding gun reflected off his mask.

"Yep! I'm on it! Just Keith," Lance hesitated, and Keith's chest flutters a little.

"Yeah?" he says again with an aggressive edge he can't keep out of his voice and waits.

"Do you think next time you can pick me to come along? I mean, I get you lost that bet but I--"

The hatch blows off violently and flew into space. Keith lets out a long exhale as the other two jump into the room.

"Lance, I gotta go. You are exactly where I need you."

Tim had mentioned a decade of Earth time as a paladin, but what even was that time in space? He realized he hasn’t been able to really sit down and ask the right questions to this stranger. How long was their war? Who are his members like? Is this gig forever as he suspects? He landed into the room, and Tim situated the gadget over the hole to temporarily close it with a shield.

“Keith, you daydreaming or what?” Pidge’s snarky voice came through the comms and Keith shook his head from all the distracting thoughts and playfully shoved her.

"I'm fine--" He drew his weapon just as the gravity took over the room and their feet touched the floor. Keith watched them both leave to the left while he headed down and to the right towards the prison hold. The good thing about Galra ships, especially like this one, is that they are identical. He uses his hand to open a few doors to check into them, and once or twice to hide from the passing drones. If they could be quiet about this, it would make the risk almost nonexistent.

“Report,” he whispered after reaching the other side of the ship. Pidge chimed in immediately.

“We’re already in, Tim’s program paired with mine is making this faster than ever, I am soooo geeking out right now Keith if you thought this bit of code was—"

“Pidge, I love you but please—“ Keith’s exasperated tone to all the tech nonsense brought a chuckle from Tim.

“We only need five minutes, I’m going to unlock the main prison door in two are you ready?” Tim asked while Pidge continued to chatter to herself in excitement.

Keith peered around the open room that has three cross-sections. This was where the heat signatures were seen back when Allura scanned the ship, but it could be different now if they were moved. Drones walked down the path on the far right, and Keith just barely had time to press up against the side wall to avoid detection.

The moment Tim unlocked the electric doors, four of the rooms clicked loudly sending the two drones to spin around and see Keith.

"Dang--" he smirked, running straight ahead, he slid against the floor to take out both their legs. The drones quickly dropped, and Keith gets up to slice his sword across both their neck points to disconnect the heads. The sparks and wires power down the drones before they sent out an alert. He runs ahead, checking on the rooms where he sees small groups huddled together.

“I count ten prisoners, Allura said twelve didn’t she?” He waved for them to come out of the rooms, and ushered them into a place he can access with his hand.

“Let me check on something,” Tim clicked out of the comm. Keith trusted that they were attempting to find the other two prisoners so he took a minute to be sure they were okay. Some looked beat up and tortured which pissed him off, most were just scared. The last alien who appeared bird- a bright yellow beak and green feathers limped into the room last tried to tell him something but Keith couldn't understand his language. Keith attempted to comfort them with a nod and quickly locked them in with a few reassurances that the other paladins are coming to get them off.

A handful of drones made their way down the hallway, and Keith had to climb up the wall and dramatically hold himself above them while they moved towards the doors. The moment they realize the prisoners were missing, Keith dropped down landing on one and slicing out to the other to incapacitate it through the chest. He kicked down on the other drone's head, smashing it so it powered downs.

“They are already on a small ship being sent out in the cargo bay,” Tim said.

“Crap— where is that on this ship?”

Keith runs down the hallway. “About fifteen doors away, two lefts, I can get the prisoners if you want to get the other two,” Tim said.

“Ok, they are behind a door with a flashing light,” Keith ran down the hallway, counting the doors, and when the hallway splits came up, he took the two lefts. This part of the ship was overcrowded with drones, and he has to crouch down near a set of crates to hide from view. He peered around the corner carefully, they were moving a lot of stuff, looking like they were packing things or organizing a new shipment. The two prisoners were tied together near the outside wall, they seemed bloodied and injured which flares anger through him. He recognizes their appearance from the concerned alien and figured they are family.

He waits though. Keith knew he was someone who can charge into fights, but he felt calm right now. Maybe the short-timed influence from Tim’s presence was changing things just enough in their dynamics to realize the leader he wanted to be. This plan of their's was flawless, he just had to deliver.

“They are moving them onto the ship with other things, there are about two dozen drones in here, I am severely outnumbered,” Keith spoke in a barely there whisper.

“Please don’t run in there Keith,” Pidge said immediately, “we are moving the prisoners now to the take off spot. The alarms might go off soon if those drones don't return that you took out.”

He worried his lip, watching the two bird-like aliens slump forward and whimper when their restraints were tugged and yanked upward to get them walking. Without pause, he slipped around the side along the crates silently and moved towards the ship as quietly as possible. Each hiding spot made his heart hammer and worry he would be spotted, but the moment he got close enough he could better see into the small ship.

When most of the drones were occupied he bolted into it, practically diving behind a large box. The surprised eyes from the prisoners met his gaze, and he quickly placed a finger to his lips to keep them silent. They nodded, and Keith's better noticed the tear tracks through their feathers. A low growl rested in his throat.

“I’m on board, just worry about the others,” Keith ordered roughly.

“Heard, and understood,” Tim responded without anything more.

Keith appreciated for once not being told off for being stupid in his brash decisions, and the feeling was a little foreign if he cared to admit it. Usually, Shiro would want the rundown of his plan, Lance would start off with a concerned ‘But Keith!’ That always served to clench his heart and sometimes make him slow down his thought process. Hunk and Pidge usually picked on him, but he knew it was out of caring for his well being.

Now wasn’t the time to think on it, but he was curious now about the Paladin named Jason, who Tim said was his husband. Did they act the same? Was Tim just used to this behavior? Is that why they worked well together?

The prisoners were trying their best to not look his way, but he could feel the relief in the room over the fact they recognized he was a paladin of Voltron. The door to the back hatch closed with a resounding slam, the pressurized air in the chamber sealing it before the entire ship lurched forward from disengaging on the docking station. Using his jetpack, he flew forward towards the pilot room and uses his sword to cut the handle off. Pulling it open reveals two drones.

“Hello!” He cheekily grinned and swiftly landed a kick to the side of the right one, using his momentum to elbow the other. The ship turned sharply and struck the outside of the prison ship. Metal screeched creating a cavernous wound from the impact. Keith quickly used his dagger to take them both out. The victory was short-lived when he realized his error. The drone fell forward on the controls, sending the ship into a quick dive and drag along the outside of the battlecruiser. Sparks illuminate space in star fire, and the crash broadcasted alarms.

Keith had to place both his feet on the side of the drone and push with all his weight and might before it slid off. He quickly jumped into the seat and took control.

“Did you crash the ship?” Pidge didn’t seem worried so much as amused.

“Not on purpose, the drone's body engaged the--" Keith stopped explaining when he hears her laughing, and he laughed a little back, the adrenaline making him grin stupidly.

“Imma tell Lance,” Pidge teased over the sound of lasers going off. They apparently knew they were here now, and the primary weapons systems were locking on their departure.

“Can you get that ship to the moon?” Tim asked from the Black Lion.

“Yes, making my way there now,” he weaved around the lasers, the cargo ship isn't meant for this type of flying, and Keith missed a few turns where the lasers struck the sides. He could hear the prisoners crying and screaming in fear back there, and he hoped they were okay and not getting crushed from the cargo.

Pidge's Lion appeared just in range and began moving quickly around the guns, weaving up and down to keep them distracted. It helped greatly.

“Thanks, Pidge, almost there,” Keith said.

"They will likely send drones here, I am already prepared for a ground fight,” Tim is on the moon surface when he lands, the dust a swirling gray and light powder blues. It was desolate and void of anything good resource-wise and made landing easy. He ran back and untied the two aliens, offering his hand to help them up.

"Here, this moon has no atmosphere, put these masks on,"

“Thank you, Paladin,” they both bowed quickly, and Keith immediately embarrassed, opened the hatch and helped them make room for the other prisoners.

"Everyone, move into this ship," he ushered them over with Hunk's help carrying the people who were injured. Keith watched Lance and Tim talking in the distance. He can't hear what they are saying because their comms are off, but he feels a knot of concern form in his center gut.

"Stay focused everyone-- Lance, get a high position for sniping, have Blue be over you so you have some cover and so you can get into her quickly should we need Voltron," he doesn't directly watch, but he sees Lance jump when he hears his voice and waves with a sarcastic salute.

"I'm on it!" Lance chimed and used his jetpack to rush over to Blue.

"Hunk and Pidge, I want you both in the air on this one, Tim and I will take the ground fight and protect the cargo ship," Keith continued, dropping down the hatch on the prisoners and attached a gadget to offer a protective shield around it. The iridescent blue glow dissolved quickly once it was activated to not alert the enemy of its presence.

“Allura is warping in, she will be here in a moment, we just need to hold them off,” Tim said looking up where two ships were making chase after the green lion. Hunk is already back in Yellow and was making a frontal attack on the incoming ships.

Tim stood by his side, Bayard out and shaped into a 6-foot bow staff he's positioned behind his back. Keith thinks he looks calm, he can see how relaxed his grip is around the weapon and the steady look in his eye. Is this his future with Voltron? Not having the heart racing adrenaline high of the fight but the far opposite?

"I can hear your heart, you should meditate with me when we get back," Tim commented without looking his way.

"I don't understand how you can be so calm," Keith admits, and Tim turned to look at him.

"It takes practice, and you are young," Tim chuckled and watched Pidge and Hunk take out four of the incoming ships just as five others land.

"That's not really an excuse is it?" Keith pulled out his dagger and his sword on the other hand and against his words, lets out a long exhale. He was sure he can feel Tim's knowing smile.

"It's not, I will show you how to control that fire in you before I leave your side," Tim promised under his breath, and for the first time-- Keith realized how well he can hear it. His eyes widened a moment, but he can't comment on what is said before Lance takes out three coming drones with a few times shots.

"Woo!! You see that!" Lance whoops into the comms. Pidge scolded him immediately, and Keith finds his world folding into a tunnel vision as Tim swiped his staff out and takes on the first few drones nearby. The fight moves quick, Hunk dives into the moon surface taking out entire lines of drones and Pidge's cannon blasts a line in the soft surface to separate the onslaught. Tim is quick in his movements, and Keith noticed the deadly precision in his kills. The staff is to bluntly strike in locations on an organic creature would likely drop them to the ground, and the quick dagger into their necks once their knees hit the ground ends the drone in a way which would be bloody and deadly if a person.

Keith on a few moments took a few hard hits to his face and side from being distracted by how Tim fought. Lance yelled at him twice when he falls down, taking a shot from his gun to keep Keith from being cut open. The blade still slices up his thigh, denting the armor and catching along the opened space to pierce his suit. It knits it together quickly, so he doesn't lose air.

"Thanks, Lance," he spun and jabs his dagger into another drones side, pulling it out and staggered a few steps in exhaustion. The Castle showed up to blast into the cruiser cargo bay, the explosion bright enough for the light to burn along the horizon line of the dark side of the moon. They all wait, and when its eerily quiet they all relax.

"That wasn't too bad, of course, we need to get out of here since the Castle attacked the cruiser," Hunk said.

"I'm landing now, let's get a move on. Get your lions on the castle," Allura ordered.

The warp gate takes them all to another part of the galaxy. A twin star, five planet universe that Lance dubbed 'big blues' for their blue stars and blue planets. The castle is filled with the injured, and Coran and Allura, and even Tim are in the med bay helping to patch everyone up. Keith makes his way towards his room to clean up, pulling on his shirt to toss it on the bed and goes to remove his belt when a knock interrupts him.

He opens the door, and Lance walks in slowly, "hey man."

"Hey-- you okay?" Keith turned around to grab a clean shirt, so he's not shirtless speaking to Lance, but Lance decides to walk up behind him and turn him around. He looks seriously upset-- eyes downcast, and the grip on his arms tighten slightly.

"Look, Keith, I have to say this--" Lance starts.

"Okay, but can I put a shirt on?"

"What?" Lance looked up, and then back down and yips like a scared dog before jumping back. His hands come together behind his back, and Keith huffed in amusement.

"Chill, I was just going to shower, what do you need to say?" He pulled on a shirt and situated against his desk in a lean.

Lance snapped his fingers in front of himself, lip worried against his teeth before his right-hand makes a finger gun motion towards Keith. It's childish, and Keith won't ever tell Lance this, but he thinks its so endearing.

"Just that-- you were fighting well today and that, even though the mission went sideways, I feel like we really made it on top today," Lance clicked his tongue and smiled.

"Okay?" Keith is a little confused, but he smiles, "that it?"

"Yep!" Lance rubbed his hands together and goes to skip towards the door in a fast pace.

"You sure?" Keith tried one more time, and Lance does pause to turn back at him. His smile is still crooked and amused, and he doesn't realize that he's relaxed against the desk. Lance fully turns, his tongue pressing to the inside of his cheek and gaze lingered towards the ground for a moment before he walks back towards Keith and stops short of stepping on him. Keith looked up, then bent forward to cheekily catch Lance's eye which is still not on him. Lance does look at him, and he notices a red tint to his cheeks from it.

"You want to, well, so--" Lance exhaled and suddenly lifts his chin, and this cool smirk burns away all the anxiousness Keith saw on this face a second prior. Now his ears burn, but he holds his position.

"Tim said, there is this planet where he is from that is nearby here that has actual space cats on it, and so-- I was wondering, since we had a big win today, if you would want to go with me to this planet, and sorta see if they are here as well?"

"Just us?" Keith stupidly asked, and Lance's eyes widen.

"I mean yeah, just you and me, hunting for cats that's all. Nothing more, I mean come on-- it will be fun right?" Lance seemed to be holding his breath. Keith nodded.

"Sure, I'd like that. You might want to ask Allura how many we can bring back," Keith attempted to joke, but Lance does laugh out loud, his shoulders relax and the sudden knot lodged near his heart makes its self-known to Keith once more.

"Great-- cool man, I'm glad. Okay, just get healed up from that sword, and sleep well and all that," finger guns makes its way towards him as Lance retreats towards the door, and Keith, he knows his smile is stupid and that his cheeks are a little warm, but he can't help but laugh.

"I will, night Lance," he said as the other closes the door. Keith stares for a moment.

"Did he just ask me on a date?"


	5. Victims of War

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some death early on, not too descriptive, but be careful.

The med bay was a flurry of motions that no one expected once everyone was on the castle. Tim has some experience with combat medical assistance, but here, he was taking orders from Coran and aiding where needed. Two of the aliens they rescued went into cardiac arrest from their wounds, or so they assumed, as they only had an organ that appeared like a heart and it had stopped working. Coran was pulling up what he could on their anatomy in the computers, but even as Tim was pushing on their furry chests in a CPR motion, they were too late on one.

"Dammit," Tim growled defeated, pulling a cloth over the person he was working on and moved to aid Allura who was pulling up the vitals on the other person who had twelve arms and wasn't reading any life as well. They had a large laceration across their abdomen that was oozing green and an ichor hued blood, likely infected for a long time, filled the area with a sulfur scent.

"I don't understand this biology; you think we can put them into the pod?"

"We have to try," she looked at Tim, and he nodded, there would always be a chance of things crashing further when adding Altean tech into an alien creatures system, especially one so distant from humanoids. Though, Tim wasn't sure if it was different here than in his world. There wasn't anything Altean he trusted unless Jason said it was too be, without his gauge on tech, he would have to believe Allura.

Tim hulled the person up, they comfortably fit in his grasp, no larger than a human toddler, and folded their arms close to their chest. They couldn't put on the protective suit either, which meant they had to monitor them carefully with sight alone; the suit was what collected all the data. He kicked the pod side, and it opened with a rush of fresh air. He set them in carefully, noting how still they were-- and knew this was probably cruel in a way-- he was sure they were dead too.

The pod closed and Tim walked over to another to sew a tear across their nose while everything focused away and time lost its presence. Allura, Coran, and himself fixed everyone alive up.

That night, he made his way to the central sitting area with a milkshake in hand that Lance made him. He couldn't remember the last time he had one, and Lance even added in these small berries Hunk foraged from a planet. They were sour with a sweet center, and meshed with the creaminess it was delicious.

Pidge was enjoying one as well, sitting crossed legged on the long circled bench. In front of her were a pile of random scrap pieces, wires, a handheld welder, and buttons and bobs of all kind.

"Are you working on something?" he asked, sitting down nearby. Pidge shrugged.

"I wanted to take the night off for once. When I am feeling stressed or I dunno-- you know though right?" she said with a lifted brow as if asking him to understand. He did-- distractions were always a must in a Paladins life, she picked up that he did get it and smiled. "Good, well, I like to build sculptures from the scrap of my other bigger projects."

Tim settled back, slouching. He was wearing sweatpants and a black t-shirt, and blue lion slippers Lance let him borrow. He didn't respond but the endearing hobby to calm down after a night of fighting was ingenious.

Pidge sat forward and started putting pieces together.

"I heard what happened in the med bay," she said quietly.

"Three ended up dying," he responded, sighing. "One we thought was fine, but its anatomy was too foreign for us to help properly. They must have electrocuted them. There were burns we missed cause of its thick hide. It sucks, we wrapped the bodies and will release them into space tomorrow. No one knew them, I mean-- their family or friends weren't among the rest."

Tim knew death well. It would always linger close by, either through his blade or towards an innocent that he wanted to protect. It still affected him significantly; missions would appear to be a failure should they lose even one life.

"I've seen a few people die now, I wish we could save them all," Pidge admitted.

"Same, that never goes away," Tim took a sip of his milkshake when Lance walked in with a tray of snacks. He set them on the table, proudly putting his hands on his hips. He was wearing a cute white apron; hair clipped back, so his bangs weren't in his face.

"Ta-da! Snacks to help the mood, I even made my Abeula's secret churros, but they ended up blue? I have no idea why, but Hunk taste tested everything and said they passed! So dig in okay?" Lance blushed a little, and Tim knew then this young paladin was the dependable heart of this group. How sweet to care so much to cook for them. He beamed at the teenager.

"Thank you," he took one of the blue churros and crunched into it.

Lance sat down as well, watching Pidge connecting pieces to make an animal face on a flat piece of metal. It was a communal quiet which Tim was grateful for; he had his eyes closed while he let it surround him, slouching down. Tim missed home. He missed Jason.

"How long have you been married?" Lance asked. Tim cracked his eye open to see Lance looking at his ring which was a black band with a blue line through the center.

"A while, you know time is different in space, so it's hard to guess. Maybe about six or seven of your earth years,"

"Did you ever live on Earth?" Lance continued.

Tim shook his head. "We visited often enough to speak to allies there, but no, we lived on my ship. It's about the size of the one we took out today, Galra tech, had lots of space for our training and for making it feel like home."

"Your team lived with you both?"

"Of course, we have to be close to form Voltron," Tim responded. "Jason and I had the north wing though to ourselves. We never felt intruded on, plus after so many years of fighting together, I'm not sure we can handle being separated from each other for long."

As soon as he said this, he frowned. That was what he was starting to feel now. The fact there was another Voltron team here with him was masking the sadness in being separated from his family, but as each day passed, it was making its self-known.

"I'm sorry! I shouldn't be asking about all that, you seem-- just really cool when you were fighting, I could tell you had a lot of experience," Lance quickly said, Pidge threw something at him, but Tim could tell they both were just curious and not trying to make him upset.

"It's fine; this isn't the first time one of us has been gone for a while. Artemis, she flies the red lion-- she was taken on a mission once, it took us a very long time finding her. Jason ended up having to fly red for a while because the planet she was at was covered in lava-- we had no idea he could handle such a lion. In a roundabout way, them taking her gave us an opportunity to learn which lions we all could fly outside our chosen ones. It was good with the bad."

"You think I could fly another lion?" Lance said immediately, eyes wide. "I want to fly black!"

Tim laughed out loud. "Have you tried?"

"No way-- Shiro," he paused, and Pidge and Lance looked down for a moment. Tim sat up better, placing his drink on the table.

"We'll find him, take comfort in knowing that my team is going through the same thing we are if our theory is right. He's in good hands if he's with them."

Pidge started making an eye with a bolt and a thin piece of rubber. "I heard Lance asked Keith out on a date."

The way she said it was nonchalant and Lance choked on his spit when she answered. Tim bit his lip from outright laughing.

"Shut up! No, I didn't!"

"Yes you did, I saw on the calendar that you both took a day off together, and are going to a planet. That's a date Lance-- just the two of you-- walking some peaceful planet together."

Lance folded his arms and tucked his legs into a crisscrossed position on the bench. "Whatever, I wanted to see if the fuzzy kitties were there. It would be fun even if Keith didn't say yes. I'd have taken blue there or Hunk or you."

Pidge shook her head, glancing over at Lance. Tim could pick up that she wasn't picking fun at him to be mean, it was her way of showing that she was interested in it. Her soft smile proved she wasn't against it, and if anything her teasing would help Lance chase after something he might be delaying in pursuing. Classic siblings.

"It worked then?" Tim asked. Lance peeked over at him, a blush dusting his cheeks.

"Pishhhh," Lance blew through his lips and pouted. "You both are mean, and I made snacks."

"You don't have to be embarrassed," Tim chuckled. "I'm glad you managed to ask him. That planet might not be the same one from my dimension, but if it is, you will have a lot of fun."

"How did you find it?" Pidge asked.

"Well," he scratched the back of his neck, the purple hair matted from his helmet earlier and not having showered yet. "It's sorta where we got married."

"Whattttttt--" Lance stood up, "I can NOT take Keith there then! Why didn't you say that! Oh my god. I'm so embarrassed, what if he finds out? Will he think I'm coming onto him? What if he doesn't want that! What if he thinks it's just a friend date thing and then hears marriage and its ALL OVER!?"

"Lance holy shit, calm down," Pidge grabbed his hand and tugged him back on the couch, moving until she was physically sitting on his lap to force him to stay. She put a tube of plastic into his hands overpowering him to hold it while she worked on another piece of her sculpture. Tim's ears dropped a little that Lance seemed so scared over something like this, maybe he shouldn't have meddled when he didn't know them that well.

"I smell milkshakes," Keith waltzed in at that moment, a dreamy expression on his face like he was following his nose. Lance froze under Pidge.

"You can finish mine if you aren't grossed out by that, I can't handle anymore, and Lance made me the biggest one I've ever seen," Tim said, offering a hand towards the drink sitting on the table. Keith paused in contemplation but shrugged as his stomach won the debate. He hopped over the edge of the bench and landed slowly onto the cushion between Lance and Tim to grab it; pulling out the straw and popping the top off so he could enjoy it with a spoon.

"Wow," he said at his first taste. "Lance, did you make all these?"

"How did you know?" Lance asked, his arm tucked along the back of the bench and hand hiding his face. Pidge forced his hand down and made him hold another item. Tim affectionately smiled at the two.

"Lance, seriously? You always make good food, I'm surprised you made it so quick with all that been happening tonight," Keith said, taking something off the plate and enjoying that as well.

"Keith, did you get that wound checked?" Lance asked. Tim peered over at the other in minor alarm.

"You didn't come to the med bay," Tim said quickly.

Keith waved them off, crunching into a churro. "You guys were slammed in there, I heard we lost a few prisoners-- and yeah, I took care of it. It's fine, barely a scratch, my armor took care of the impact," Keith sighed. "I can't believe they tortured those people. What in the world do they know?"

"I don't know, I found it strange as well," Tim responded. "We can't understand what language they speak. Coran said there is a system that you all built that can decipher languages written out, so we're going to attempt to have them write where they are from so we can warp there."

"Yeah, it was for infiltration with the Galra stuff, but it can be calibrated for other languages," Pidge responded. "We don't see a lot of torture situations on the field though, only from Zarkon's main group."

"People are tortured for something. To break them, to acquire knowledge, to influence some else," Tim frowned. Their ship requiring repairing on the battlecruiser was a small opportune chance to intercept. The wounds of the prisoners were new on some, old on others to the point of infections. They were dirty, smelling like feces and dried blood. Whatever those people knew-- the Galra might have gotten it. Though, some were fine, little to no wounds, just scared. His hands closed into fists, starring at a point of the room.

"Unless I miss read this," he pushed up, using his tail as an anchor as he flipped over the edge of the bench and landed on the other side. He kicked off the lion slippers.

"Missed what?" Keith was on alert, standing from his seat to turn towards him.

"Maybe some are prisoners, but others might not be," Tim explained. Keith took a long sip from the milkshake then slammed it down, jumping over the edge as well to run alongside him. They headed down to the prisoners bay which was a storage area now situated with benches and beds for them to feel comfortable.

"You think we took on pirates?" Lance was running behind them with Pidge in tow.

"Perhaps, do you have slave pirates here?" Tim asked, sliding to the side wall and peering over to see into the room. They lined up next to him.

"It would be mathematically impossible not to have those here as well," Pidge said.

"How many do you count?" Lance asked.

"Six."

"So we're missing three," Keith said, "okay, Lance and I will run up to the bridge. You guys head to the utility rooms." He pulled up his communicator, and Hunk's voice carried through it with a 'yeah?'

"Hunk, we might have a situation with the prisoners, three are missing, and we suspect they aren't prisoners. Can you check the lions?"

"Yupppppp, on it."

Tim watched Lance and Keith run in another direction.

"Alright-- let's take this cautiously,"


End file.
